Best PlacesClarke County, GA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clarke County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clarke County ranks 2,006th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on an educated workforce and population health. The weaker spots are an overheated housing market, the schools, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Clarke County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Clarke County
The parts of Clarke County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Athens
More households have young kids, it is quieter, and local pay stretches further.
Bogart
More adults hold degrees and more residents vote.
Winterville
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Clarke County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Clarke County's strengths and weaknesses
Clarke County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. An educated workforce, population health, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is an overheated housing market, near the bottom of the country. The schools and noise also cost it ground. Cost swings more from one part of Clarke County to another than it does between Clarke County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Clarke County ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of counties
Where Clarke County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clarke County
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clarke County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $60,201, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Clarke County's effective rate of 0.83%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clarke County
Clarke County runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clarke County.
Who works in Clarke County, and how
Work in Clarke County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Clarke County
Clarke County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of counties and more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clarke County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clarke County growing, and who is moving in?
Clarke County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Atlanta, GA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clarke County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clarke County, month by month
Clarke County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 58, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 58° | 45° | 33° |
| April | 78° | 63° | 49° |
| July | 94° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 80° | 64° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Clarke County
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 64 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 51.5 million passengers in 2025, with 278 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Clarke County
Schools across Clarke County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chase Street Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Barrow Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Timothy Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clarke Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
- Burney-harris-lyons Middle SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Hilsman Middle SchoolD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Foothills Charter High School (central Office - Athens)C · 32% proficient
- Clarke Central High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Cedar Shoals High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clarke County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clarke County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Clarke County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clarke County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Clarke County
Is Clarke County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clarke County ranks 2,006th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clarke County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $341,875. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $60,201 median income, cost of living beats 18% of counties.
Is Clarke County safe?
Clarke County is safer than 35% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $351 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clarke County?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 58 with lows near 33. That works out to about 78 pleasant days a year, more than 36% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clarke County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Athens, Bogart, and Winterville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Clarke County good for families?
Schools beat 7% of counties, crime safety beats 35%, and childcare runs $649 a month.
Is Clarke County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 18% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 82% of counties. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare Clarke County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clarke County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clarke County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Clarke County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clarke County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clarke County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clarke County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clarke County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clarke County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.